Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC)
measures the ability of non-native English-speaking examinees to
use English in everyday work activities.

History

The ETS (Educational Testing Service) in the USA developed
the TOEIC test based on its precursor, the TOEFL test, following
a request from Japan's Keidanren (Japan Federation of Economic
Organizations; 経団連) in conjunction with the Ministry of
International Trade and Industry (MITI; 通商産業省; 通産省), which is
today's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI; 経済産業省;
経産省). The Asahi Shimbun (朝日新聞) national daily's evening edition
[1] interviewed Yasuo Kitaoka (北岡靖男) who was the central figure
of the Japanese team that conceived the basic idea of the TOEIC
test. In this sense the TOEIC test can be described as a
US-Japanese crossbreed.

Outline

The TOEIC test is a two-hour multiple-choice test that
consists of 200 questions divided into 100 questions each in
listening comprehension and reading comprehension. Each
candidate receives independent marks for written and oral
comprehension on a scale from 5 to 495 points. The total score
adds up to a scale from 10 and 990 points. The TOEIC certificate
exists in five colours, corresponding to achieved results:
orange (10-215), brown (220-465), green (470-725), blue
(730-855) and gold (860-990).

There are an estimated 3 million test takers in 60 different
countries per year, but most of those are Japanese and South
Koreans. For that reason, the TOEIC test is virtually unknown
outside Japan, South Korea and some of their neighbouring
countries in East Asia. Its precursor, the TOEFL test, has more
international recognition and prestige. However, things are
gradually changing in Europe. (See below: TOEIC in Europe)

The questions attempt to reenact international business
environments and contain vocabulary and usage that are not
necessarily needed in everyday life. Even a native speaker will
find it hard to get full marks unless they have a good
educational background, which strongly suggests it is not a true
test of English communicative competence.

Renewal

In answer to criticisms that the Listening Section hires only
American and Canadian English speakers despite its
"International" appellation, the year 2006 saw a major renewal.
The changes can be summarized as follows:

Overall, passages have become longer.

Part 1 has fewer questions involving photo descriptions.

The Listening Section hires not only North American
English speakers but also British, Australian and New
Zealand English speakers. The ratio is 25% each for
American, Canadian, British and Aussie-Kiwi pronunciation
[2].

Part 6 no longer contains the error spotting task, which
has been criticized as unrealistic in a corporate
environment. This part instead adopts the task wherein the
test taker fills in the blanks in incomplete sentences.

Part 7 contains not only single passage questions but
also double passage questions wherein the test taker has to
read and compare the two related passages such as e-mail
correspondence.

According to a survey [3] conducted in 2006 by the Institute
for International Business Communication
(財団法人
国際ビジネスコミュニケーション協会,Zaidanhōjin Kokusai Bijinesu
Komyunikēshon Kyōkai?),
56.8% of the respondents who took both the older and the renewed
versions of the TOEIC test in Japan find the latter version more
difficult. The lower score the test taker achieves, the more
marked this tendency becomes. As many as 85.6% of those who
earned scores ranging from 10 to 395 points find the renewed
TOEIC test more difficult, while 69.9% of those who earned 400
to 495 points think this way, so do 59.3% of those who earned
500 to 595 points. Among those who achieved 600 to 695 points
58.9% find so, 700 to 795 points 48.6%, 800 to 895 points 47.9%,
and 900 to 990 points 39.8%.

TOEIC
in Japan

The Institute for International Business Communication
(財団法人
国際ビジネスコミュニケーション協会,Zaidanhōjin Kokusai Bijinesu
Komyunikēshon Kyōkai?)
operates the TOEIC test in Japan, where a total of nearly 1.5
million people take the test per year. There are two ways to
take the TOEIC test proper. One is called the TOEIC SP Test
(Secure
Program Test; 公開テスト,Kōkai Tesuto?),
in which one can take the test either individually or in a group
on specified dates at a test centre specified by the TOEIC
Steering Committee. The other is the TOEIC IP Test
(Institutional
Program Test; 団体特別受験制度,Dantai Tokubetsu Juken Seido?),
in which an organization (a corporate body or an educational
institution) can choose the date and administer the test at
their convenience in accordance with the TOEIC Steering
Committee. The TOEIC SP Test was renewed on May 2006, the TOEIC
IP Test in April 2007 in line with the SP Test. More and more
companies use TOEIC scores for personnel assessment instead of
the homegrown STEP Eiken test organized by the Society for
Testing English Proficiency (STEP)
(日本英語検定協会主催実用英語技能検定試験「英検」,Nihon Eigo Kentei Kyōkai
Shusai Jitsuyō Eigo Ginō Kentei Shiken "Eiken"?).
The TOEIC Speaking Test / Writing Test started on Sunday 21st
January 2007 in addition to the TOEIC SP Test and the TOEIC IP
Test [4].

TOEIC
in the Republic of Korea

Towards the end of 2005, there was a shift in South Korea,
regarded as the second biggest consumer of TOEIC [5], or rather
the biggest in terms of per capita consumption, away from the
test as a measure of English ability on the corporate level. As
noted in The Chosun Ilbo (조선일보; 朝鮮日報; Korea Daily Reports)
national daily[6], a number of major coporations have either
removed or reduced the required TOEIC score for employment. An
official from the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK; Kiup Bank;
기업은행; 中小企業銀行) says, "TOEIC isn't an appropriate indicator of
actual English skills." Another English proficiency test, TEPS,
has been developed and is being adopted by more and more Korean
companies.

TOEIC
in Europe

In France, some Grandes écoles require a TOEIC score of at
least 750 to award the diploma. This policy has been criticized,
as it makes state-awarded diplomas dependent on a private
institution--despite the fact that it was not the private
institution that set the 750 mark but a recommendation from the
Commission des Titres d'Ingénieurs indicating a B2+ level on the
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. If the
student cannot achieve a 750 mark, he/she is offered to validate
his/her diploma by other means in most of the schools. Some
institutions delay the diploma for one year after the end of the
studies in that case.

In Greece, TOEIC is accepted by ASEP, the organisation which
is responsible for hiring new employees to work for the
government.

TOEIC
Bridge

ETS also administers a simplified version of the TOEIC test
called TOEIC Bridge. The TOEIC Bridge test targets beginning and
intermediate speakers and consists of 100 multiple-choice
questions, requiring about one hour of testing time.

Pros
and Cons

The fact that the test is a series of multiple choice
questions whose relative values are questionable and that it
neglects assessment of speaking and writing skills are
frequently criticized by some of the conscientious language
teachers. Some even argue that no particular question is worth
more points than any other, so that it is wise to answer as many
of the easy questions as possible before tackling the more
difficult ones, which is more to do with test taking technique
rather than one's language proficiency. Counter arguments exist
for these points. While the content of the test tends to revolve
around office situations, such situations are the ones in which
TOEIC test-takers are likely to find themselves after sitting
for the test. The TOEIC Examinee Handbook contains a number of
examples of such questions, thus allowing prospective
test-takers a satisfactory amount of information beforehand.
Indeed the TOEIC may not test actual speaking or writing
production, but the fact that it tests listening and reading
comprehension that involve vocabulary and grammar lend strong
support to TOEIC being a reliable measure of one's general
English proficiency. It can be argued that the absence of
speaking and writing sections does eliminate the subjectivity
that is inevitable with human examiners/evaluators assessing
voice recordings and written responses. But then the complexity
of human interaction---its subtlety and dynamisms---can never be
reduced to a mere multiple choice test.